Before you head off to music fests and movies and wherever else the weekend might take you, be sure to mark your calendar for our reader meet-up next Thursday at Goose Island's Clybourn Pub. We're going to use this reader meetup to premiere "Sai-Shan-tea," the beer our own Chuck Sudo brewed with Goose Island Clybourn's Jared Rouben and Rodrick Markus of Rare Tea Cellar. We're going to host this meetup at the scene of this tasty, alcohol-fueled crime: Goose Island Clybourn. In addition to "Sai-Shan-Tea," the brewpub's extensive list of fine beers will also be available so there'll be plenty to help keep you happy. And if Facebook invites are your thing, be sure to RSVP here. more ›

Back in the early days of this-little-website-that-could we used to make it a practice of actually trying to meet our readers at a pre-arranged location to have some drinks, have a good time away from the flat-screen glow, get to know each other and (most important) thank you for choosing to spend a portion of your day reading Chicagoist. As you can see from this Flickr set, these "Reader Happy Hours" were very fun. more ›

In a sit-down described as "cordial and productive," President Obama sat down with Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Sgt. James Crowley, the Cambridge Police officer who arrested Gates a few weeks ago as Gates tried to enter his own locked house. The furor over the incident intensified last week when President Obama said that the police had "acted stupidly" in the manner in which they arrested Gates. A Pew Research Center poll found 41 percent of those polled disapproved of Obama's handling of the situation, 29 percent approved, and 30 percent fell into the "don't know" category. Afterward, Crowley indicated he and Gates planned to meet again. Whether the sit-down will cool tensions over this incident - which has seen things as wild as FOX News host Glenn Beck saying Obama, "has a deep-seeded hatred for white people," - remains to be seen and the President now moves on to other issues such as the economy (is it really rebounding?) and health care (still facing much opposition). In the meantime, Slate also breaks out a great list of cinematic sit-downs over beer. Hard to beat #1. more ›

Need a three layer cake in the shape of a tea kettle (complete with cotton candy steam) for your grandmother’s 80th birthday and your baking skills began and ended with the penis shaped cake you made for your college roommate’s bachelorette party? Never fear; Chicago bakeries have you covered for your non-penis shaped, special event cake needs. Contact any of these great bakeries well ahead of your next event to describe your cake needs and let them work their sugary magic. more ›

Aiming to bring down Google Adwords (not likely) by keeping online ad revenue local (quite likely), SaveChicago.org is connecting businesses, consumers and the nonprofits they love, turning bargain hunting into desk-chair philanthropy. more ›

Last week’s free McSkillet burritos spoiled us. All we had to do was purchase one little drink and we got a free breakfast? Suddenly paying for meals seemed like a sham. It got us thinking - where else can we score some free grub in this town? Well, seek and ye shall find: more ›

If you're downtown and if you're near any of the Salad Creations locations at 60 E. Jackson, 555 W. Monroe or 500 W. Madison, and if you want to save some lunch money for Happy Hour this evening, then haul your ass down to the one closest to you now. more ›

We can't help thinking "superbug" makes it sound awesome, like a superhero, superfly, Super Mario, etc. Either way, There are two more cases of drug-resistant staph infections in Naperville. more ›

Got a dollar? Spend it tonight at Steppenwolf's Garage Theater, where the Listening Room presents the 2007 TCF ShortDocs: Dollar Storeys. The two-headed beast child born of the union of The Dollar Store reading series and Third Coast Audio Festival, Dollar Storeys are sweet radio segments based on purchases made at dollar stores. Tonight's event features highlights from the contest, stories from Chicagoist's pal and Dollar Store mastermind Jonathan Messinger (here's some trivia: Jonathan was at our very first happy hour ever! Wowza!), and local applicants will share some of their material as well. more ›

Chicagoist has long been a fan of Goose Island beers. Not only have they long been a staple Beer of the Week, but we're pretty sure our names are on a plaque somewhere on the pub walls as "Masters of Beer Appreciation," a feat accomplished in the hazy years before our baby. What we didn't know then was that we could have our kid and our beer, too. more ›

Well, we've already tried to hip you to tonight's free show at The Bottle, put there are plenty of other concerts to spend your time (and money) at this week. more ›

It’s not the happy hour at the Hideout this time for the Siderunners, it’s a video premiere. Myke Adams, a local artist originally from New Orleans, directed and edited the video for “Sabbath Country Sabbath” off the Siderunners’ stripped down, live, acoustic album of the same name and, also, is the man behind the album art at the right. Monica Kendrick of the Chicago Reader had this to say way back when the album was... more ›

This Friday night (parents, remember those?), with your cranky kid in tow, will you waste the evening pining over the date nights you wish you still had, or just go out anyway, dammit? When you opt for the latter, run to J. Alexander’s. This place is scrumptious food and considerate service in a chain restaurant’s clothing. Our family had a leisurely two-course meal in 40 minutes flat. We were home before our kid even began to whimper. more ›

The American Heritage Dictionary defines "delirium" as a "temporary state of mental confusion and fluctuating consciousness resulting from high fever, intoxication, shock, or other causes. It is characterized by anxiety, disorientation, hallucinations, delusions, and incoherent speech." The folks at the the Brouwerij Huyghe, the oldest brewery in Belgium's Ghent region, take a distinct tongue-in-cheek approach to the definition, as anyone familiar with their popular Delirium Tremens can attest. While that beer is certainly worthy of... more ›

We know it’s probably a dead horse by now, but we’re gonna get one or two more licks in on this. more ›

Now that we're over last week's self-inflicted tryptophan coma, we can return to the normal business at hand. With tomorrow's happy hour fast approaching, we would be remiss to not post a "BotW," since you readers do have a history of drinking an establishment out of certain beers when we throw a party. Thankfully, Quencher's has a glut of both domestic and imported beers for you to choose from. more ›

There are all kinds of ways to volunteer and support your causes. Some require that you walk a 5K. Many take time and dedication. Most are geared at raising money. So if you’re a little light on the time and effort, and walking just isn’t your thing, maybe you’d like to donate some cash to the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) this Thursday and eat chocolate all night. As far as that whole community service thing goes, there are certainly less appealing options. more ›

Just a reminder that our next Happy Hour is this Thursday, November 30, starting at 6 p.m. at Quencher’s with live band karaoke from the Hootenanners at 10:30 p.m. more ›

Karaoke Revolution? more ›

Oprah urges each and every one of her viewers to “live your best life.” And whether she’s making like an angel or giving out free cars, she often helps to facilitate that in any way she can. But we’re pretty sure she’s not happy about people using her Oprahness to scam people out of money via e-mail phishing schemes. Illinois’ own angel Attorney General Lisa Madigan says not to fall for it. In other less... more ›

It may be a “dead week” for the travel industry, but Chicagoist is livening things up next week with a Happy Hour for you, our readers, featuring after-work cocktails and live band karaoke from the Hootenanners. more ›

In case you missed it, there was an election yesterday. Chicagoist hopes you got out and voted. And after we rocked the vote, we rocked the Daily Bar & Grill at a special election night happy hour; you should have been there. That said, it was an exciting day: The Democrats have taken the House, but the Senate is still a toss-up. And yes, that means that Nancy Pelosi will be the new Speaker of... more ›

The Chicagoist offices are alive with the sounds of schadenfreude as we turn our attention to television’s biggest losers. The first bit of news that had us chortling with glee was the mercy killing of that ersatz-Chicago Fox sitcom “Happy Hour,” which we ranted about last week and has been cancelled. Technically it’s only been put on “hiatus,” so it’s more life support than euthanasia. But we all know what that means. It’s the approximate... more ›

Apparently, Maureen Ryan isn't the only one who's hating on "Happy Hour," the new Chicago-set sitcom. If you check out TV Death Watch '06 you’ll find that, at the moment, it's the one new show everyone’s betting will get axed the fastest. Having just watched the 2nd episode online we’re eagerly rooting for its demise. Does TV really need another witless show with main characters who are either bland or just plain annoying? It’s the kind of show we’d only watch if it was showing on the plane and we’d read the SkyMall catalog a few times already. There seems to be approximately one genuinely funny joke per commercial break segment. Perhaps there’s a wartime humor-rationing program in place that no one bothered to tell us about. more ›

Mo Ryan, the Trib's genius TV critic and FOC*, poses an excellent question, one for the ages: "Why [have] some of the lamest sitcoms ever been set in Chicago?" more ›

It was just another Friday happy hour at the Hideout. Well, not including the BBQ going on and the fact that there just seemed to be more people arriving than normal for a show that wasn’t supposed to start until 10:30 pm. Sure, there was to be a 9:30 showing of George Bush being eaten by rats, but what did that really mean? After the sound check, we dutifully made our way to the back... more ›

Few artists inspire as much delight and wrath from even the most casual art observer as Andy Warhol. You love/hate how he made accessible/denigrated his work by putting it on soup cans, how his 8-hour shot of the Empire State Building blew your mind/messed with your mind, how he took silver balloons and made them art, how he captured Marilyn Monroe’s essence over and over again. Starting this weekend, the MCA exhibits many shades... more ›

Boots via ten-nine more ›

With sushi restaurants popping up almost as fast as Starbucks, finding a new favorite can be overwhelming. Chicagoist decided to follow in Gold Coast footsteps and took the chic route. Even narrowing it down by neighborhood, we had a selection of trendy downtown sushi spots. Smack in the middle of one of Chicago’s most glittery neighborhoods, RA was our chosen destination. Located at 1139 N. State, RA does not take reservations, so Chicagoist showed up... more ›